Encouragement for today, Hope for tomorrow

Month: May 2016

I will not vote for Donald Trump to be my President. Nor will I vote for Hillary Clinton. So now that they are the presumptive nominees of their respective political parties, what do I do?

I am not politically savvy nor am I loyal to any political party, although I did recently change my party affiliation from Independent to Republican so that I could vote for John Kasich (and against Donald Trump) in the primary election.

That said, I have always voted Republican because the Republican candidate espoused more views that aligned with my conservative values and beliefs on issues important to me than did the Democratic candidate. While I was not always particularly enamored with the man I voted for, I believed when I cast my vote that he was a far better option for President than the alternative, and I never once questioned whether I was voting for an evil individual.

This year is different. Absent a miracle, evil awaits us on election night in November.

The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, if elected President, will harm our nation. He lacks honesty, morals, integrity, humility and compassion. He is angry and unstable, rude, rash and reckless. He worships the almighty dollar, not the Almighty. Regardless of how you feel about his ever changing political positions, right thinking Americans cannot declare with a straight face that they want their sons to grow up to be like him. If that were so, if our values, beliefs and convictions now resemble those of Donald Trump, then our once great nation is finished.

What’s most disturbing about Trump’s candidacy is not Trump, but the millions of Americans who support him. I understand anger with Washington and politics as usual, but I do not comprehend why people would expect someone who is so angry, unstable and full of hate to fix the problem. And I particularly cannot understand how those who call themselves followers of Christ could disregard His teachings to rally around this frightening potential world leader.

The Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, like Trump, lacks honesty, integrity and humility. She is unethical, controlled by greed and above all, her own unrestrained self-interest. Even more than most career politicians, she is willing to politically bed down with the devil himself if he will donate to her political coffers. Mrs. Clinton cannot be trusted. In addition to lacking the basic character and moral fiber needed to be President, the majority of her political views do not match mine, most notably her stance on killing babies. That’s right, I said killing babies, not abortion, because when we hear “abortion” we tune out, but when we hear “killing babies,” our collective conscience wakes up.

Clinton declared last month on NBC’s Meet the Press, in response to a question about abortion restrictions and the rights of the unborn that “the unborn person doesn’t have Constitutional rights.” Come again, Hilary? Are you saying that some people don’t have Constitutional rights in America, like the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? I would like to hear one of my liberal women friends who are grandmas tell me that they would defend their daughter’s or daughter-in-law’s right to kill the grandchild they are now cradling in their arms, provided she had done so before the doctor pulled the baby from her womb. A vote for Clinton is a vote for continuing to deny the Constitutional right to life to the most helpless and vulnerable persons of all.

For the last 30 years the public election process in America has been marked by voter apathy, evidenced by often historic low voter turnouts where millions of citizens could not be troubled to simply fill out a ballot and exercise their hard fought for and won right to vote for those who govern them. This November, however, I anticipate record voter turnout by citizens eager to take out the lesser of these two evils.

The problem is that voting for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.

When we vote for a person, we delegate to him or her the authority to govern us, the right to act toward others – other citizens and other nations – on our behalf. Of course candidates can and often do lie and make promises they do not keep. They can fool us into believing they have good moral character and integrity and unfortunately, we discover the truth about them too late, after we have already voted them into office. But to hand over our authority to someone we already know to be foolhardy, dangerously unpredictable, unethical and untrustworthy makes us culpable for their actions. If we are aware of the danger associated with a candidate, and yet go ahead and vote for him or her anyway, we will suffer for our stupidity.

We must vote if we value freedom. If we do not vote, we are telling the brave men and women who died that we might live free, and who guaranteed our privileged right to govern ourselves, that their sacrifice does not matter – indeed, that freedom doesn’t matter.

So how do we participate in the election process without endorsing moral evil?

We overcome evil by good. We vote for the person who at least appears to have and lives by a good moral compass, good judgment and good faith. We cannot justify endorsing a bad candidate for President by claiming that the alternative is worse. Wrong is wrong. While there will never be a perfect political candidate, we cannot vote for evil, even if everyone tells us we have to in order to avoid an even greater evil.

As a Christian, I believe God will hold me accountable if I vote for a person whose life and actions demonstrate contempt for the teachings of my Savior. I am not responsible for the outcome of the election but only for voting my conscience. At this point, it looks like that means I will be writing in a candidate who, absent divine intervention, will not be the next President. Regardless, I must concern myself with pleasing my Lord, not my fellow man and certainly not any political party. I must vote for the candidate whose views best align with my own values, beliefs and convictions, which I hope are firmly rooted in the Word of God.

No matter who is chosen as the 44th President of the United States of America, God will still be on His throne following the election. While soon we may no longer be one nation under God, God will still be sovereign. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.” Proverbs 21:30.

Wondering what to get your mom, wife, grandmother, daughter or mother-in-law for Mother’s Day – flowers, chocolate, or maybe a pedicure? Why not give her what she really wants? Unveil her beauty.

As John Eldredge writes in “Wild at Heart” and expands on in the companion book, “Captivating,” which he wrote with his wife, Stasi:

“Every woman yearns to be fought for….She wants to be more than noticed – she wants to be wanted. She wants to be pursued.

Every woman also wants an adventure to share. ‘I want to be…pursued, fought for – yes. But also, I want to be strong and a part of the adventure.’

Every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil….a deep desire to simply and truly be the beauty and be delighted in. Most little girls will remember playing dress up, or wedding day, or twirling skirts, those flowing dresses that were perfect for spinning around in. She’ll put her pretty dress on, come into the living room and twirl. What she longs for is to capture her daddy’s delight….‘Do you see me?’ asks the heart of every girl. ‘And are you captivated by what you see?’

The world kills a woman’s heart when it tells her to [only] be tough, efficient, and independent….a Christian woman is…tired. All we’ve offered the feminine soul is pressure to ‘be a good servant.’ No one is fighting for her heart, there is no grand adventure to be swept up in, and every woman doubts very much that she has any beauty to unveil.”

Every woman is beautiful in the eyes of God. He intentionally and relentlessly pursues each daughter of Eve. He longs for us to put on the wedding clothes he offers, the garment of His grace, the robe of Christ’s righteousness. “For he has clothed me with garments of salvation, and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness….the Lord will take delight in you…as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 61:10; 62:4-5.

Reveal to the women in your life their beauty. Regardless of their age or physical appearance, through your eyes, help them to see the best of their beautiful souls. Cover over their imperfections not with concealer, but with your love. Choose not to take up offense, but to give them the benefit of the doubt. By your words and with your actions, demonstrate to the women God has placed in your life that they are beautiful, that you are happy to share life’s adventures with them and that you will fight for them. Point your women to the Bridegroom who delights in them – Jesus.

This Mother’s Day, choose to be a lifegiver and unveil the beauty of a woman’s soul to her.

(And if you are my child, may I also suggest pairing that gift with a bottle of Bath and Body Works lotion?)